


Under the Lens

by ViimaTheFailcat



Series: Seeschlange Movie AU [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions, Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions
Genre: Alternative Universe - Movie Set, M/M, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-31 16:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6477922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViimaTheFailcat/pseuds/ViimaTheFailcat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drayden needs a skilled actor for his upcoming psychological thriller. Alder brings him Brycen, an actor famous from Kanto. Turns out that Brycen's skill in English has rusted while in Kanto, so Drayden has to double-time as his language coach as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As per usual, the title is a stand-in until/in case I come up with something better.
> 
> Check it out, it's my new fic. It's Seeschlangeshipping. Because there wasn't any. You know the story. There were no Brycen/Drayden fics in AO3, I took it upon myself to fix it yada yada.

“I heard you needed an actor for your new project,” Alder said, grinning over his bottle.

 

“I do, yes,” Drayden said slowly. He got the feeling that Alder invited him out for drinks just to tell him about finding an actor.

 

His suspicion turned out to be correct when Alder grinned wider and magiced a flashdrive and small stack of pictures out of nowhere.

 

Drayden didn’t bat an eye at his producer’s theatrics and took them, starting to leaf through the pictures. They were pictures of a slender, but still muscular man with ice-blue hair. Some of the pictures were from photoshoots from what Drayden assumed were kung fu movies, stills from said movies and, oddly, a few pictures of him modeling clothes, it seemed. Most of the stills had the man in eastern clothing or shirtless, in the middle of a fight scene and impressive stunts. One still, however, had him in very convincing drag.

 

“His name is Brycen. Although he’s better known as Hachiku in Kanto, Johto and some parts of Sinnoh. He’s a well known actor over there and he’s been in all kinds of movies. Martial arts movies, romcoms, indie films. He’ll do almost anything.”

 

Drayden hummed.

 

“He does his own stunts too. There’s more pictures and some clips from his movies on the flashdrive.”

 

“I’ll check them out, thank you,” Drayden said, pocketing the small device.

 

Alder grinned widely and lifted his bottle. “You are very welcome.”

 

After having a few drinks with Alder, Drayden went home and made a beeline to his computer. He hooked the flashdrive in and watched the clips in it. 

 

The first clip was from what Drayden assumed to be a gritty cyberpunk movie, and Brycen was some kind of robot police. The clip had Brycen jumping away from an exploding helicopter and jumped and climbed down on the side of an apartment building before landing on the ground and cracking the tarmac with his knees and fist. Even without the special effects, the stunt was impressive, especially when it was Brycen himself all along.

 

The second clip was from a rom com, the moment when the couple breaks up before getting back together. There was emotional music and even if Drayden didn’t understand the dialogue (it was in Japanese and had no subtitles), he could tell that Brycen wanted to stay with the girl, but something had happened that they had to break up. It was an touching and beautiful scene, even without subtitles.

 

_ So he can do emotions too _ , Drayden thought and moved on to the third clip.

 

The third clip was from a fantasy movie. The scene was tense, starting with Brycen and another character arguing about something (again, the clip was in Japanese without subtitles) on a mountaintop. There were lots of emotions expressed: betrayal, anger, longing… It made Drayden really wish for some subtitles. He wanted to know what the two were talking about. Suddenly the two characters were fighting, first hand-to-hand combat, then using branches as staffs, finally unsheathing their swords. The fight was very well choreographed and Brycen was confident and swift in his moves. It was like watching a dance, in a weird way. The combat ended with Brycen knocking his opponent’s sword from his hand and pointing his own sword at the other’s throat. The characters exchanged a few words, before Brycen killed the other. The music turned emotional as Brycen cradled the dead character on his arms and weeped.

 

Drayden paused before he idly browsed the pictures on the flashdrive. More stills and promo shots from Brycen’s movies. The photos didn’t change his mind much, though, because he already knew he wanted Brycen in his movie.

 

The next day Drayden called Alder.

 

“You watched the clips,” Alder said without as much as a hello. Drayden could hear the smile in his voice.

 

“I did and I’m impressed,” Drayden said, “But none of the clips were in English. Does Brycen know English?”

 

“He was born in Unova. He’s been living in Johto for about ten years now though. He might be a little rusty.”

 

Drayden hummed. “He’ll have to brush up his English, then.”

 

“Mm-hm. I’ll tell that to his agent. Do you want him to do a demo reel?”

 

“It’s fine. I’ll send you the script so you can send it to Brycen’s agent.”

 

“Okidoki. I’ll update you on this as soon as they reply to me.”

 

***

 

“ _ Alder-san sent me email _ ,” Brycen’s agent, Mikiko said one morning, “ _ He says there’s a Unovian director who wants you in his movie. _ ”

 

“ _ What kind of movie? _ ”

 

“ _ Psychological thriller, according to Alder-san. Do you want to read the script? _ ”

 

“ _ Yes, please. Who am I playing? _ ”

 

Mikiko sent the script to Brycen’s phone and checked the email Alder sent her. “ _ Your character is Kent, the assistant of the gym leader who disappears under mysterious circumstances. Kent starts to investigate when the police don’t believe that the gym leader is in real danger. _ ”

 

Brycen nodded and started reading. His English had grown a little rusty during his time in Kanto and Johto, so he had to check a few complicated words from a dictionary, but the further he read, the more interesting the plot got.

 

Brycen finished reading the script and smiled crookedly. “ _ I should start brushing up on my English, should I? _ ”

 

“ _ So you want this role? _ ” Mikiko grinned.

 

Brycen smiled too. “ _ Yes. _ ”

 

Mikiko sent the official answer to Alder a few days later.

 

During that time Brycen brushed up on his English. He still understood it fine, but his pronunciation had suffered during his time in Kanto and Johto. He hoped that a thick Japanese accent wouldn’t make the director change his mind.

 

He supposed it didn’t because about a month later, he was on a plane to Unova with Mikiko.

 

***

 

After Brycen and Mikiko had recovered from jet lag, the two were to meet Alder, Drayden (the director of the movie), Kimi (Drayden’s assistant) and Skyla (the leading actress of the movie) for the first time.

 

When Brycen and Mikiko stepped into the room, Alder stood up with a wide grin. “Hachiku-maaaaaaaaaan!” he sang the theme song of the children’s show Brycen used to be the villain of. Alder crossed the room to Brycen, who offered him his hand with a shallow bow. Alder ignored the hand and hugged Brycen instead, still singing the theme song.

 

Alder pulled away and clapped Brycen’s shoulders. “It’s been ages! How was Kanto? How are you?”

 

“Kanto is fine, as always,” Brycen smiled, “I am fine as well.”

 

Alder grinned widely and clapped Brycen’s shoulders once more before turning to Mikiko. “Ah and Mikiko. Beautiful as ever.” He shook her hand and bowed his head to kiss her hand. Mikiko pulled her hand away before the lips made contact.

 

“Let’s not get carried away,” Mikiko said, “Please, Alder-san, introduce us to our colleagues.”

 

“Right!” Alder pointed at a tanned, red-haired woman who was hurriedly stuffing the last bites of a bagel into her mouth. “This is Skyla, she’ll be the female lead.”

 

Skyla chewed and swallowed with a small cough. “Sorry, I was just finishing my breakfast. Nice to meet you.”

 

“Nice to meet you too,” Brycen said, shaking her hand. Her grip was firm and strong and her eye contact was open and friendly. Brycen could tell she would be a delight to work with.

 

“This is Drayden’s lovely assistant Kimi,” Alder went on, loosely wrapping his arm around a woman whose hair was on a neat bun.

 

Kimi smiled politely and stepped away from Alder’s arm. She shook hands with Brycen and Mikiko.

 

“And this is the big boss himself, the director, Drayden,” Alder said, clapping a muscular, white-haired man’s arm.

 

Drayden stood up and his muscular, bulking figure towered a good few inches taller than Brycen. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, Drayden’s heavy brows that made him look like he was frowning all the time were more than enough.

 

_ Scary… _ Brycen thought when he shook his hand. 

 

Drayden’s grip was even stronger than Skyla’s, but where Skyla’s handshake was friendly and brisk, Drayden almost crushed Brycen’s fingers. Drayden’s light golden, dragon-like eyes burned intensely like fire, boring into Brycen’s soul. Brycen felt very exposed, like he was about to get scorched any second. Brycen had to force himself to keep up the eye contact and not look away.

 

After what felt like ages, Drayden’s lip quirked into an almost unnoticeable smile and he let go of Brycen’s hand.

 

For some reason, Brycen felt like this project would be special to him, and not only because it would give him a chance to break into Unova’s movie scene.


	2. Chapter 2

“You said he knows English!” Drayden said, rubbing his eyes. 

 

They had been shooting for about a week now, and Brycen kept on flubbing his line. Drayden would have allowed an accent on Brycen’s character because it gave the role depth, but that assumed that the accent was understandable.

 

“He’s just a little rusty, that’s all,” Alder grinned, a touch sheepish, “He’ll get better with practise.”

 

Drayden pursed his lips.

 

“Give him a chance!” Alder continued, “He’s working hard to pronounce things right. And he’s getting better every day, too.”

 

Drayden had to agree with that. He remembered how his mother struggled to fit in, having learnt English as second language herself. “I will coach him.”

 

Alder lifted his eyebrows. “You sure?”

 

“Yes. I could get to know him better too.”

 

Alder’s eyebrows rose even higher and he smirked. “Oh?”

 

Drayden blinked and scrambled to correct himself. “I-I mean he seems like a nice person.”

 

Alder’s smirk widened. “Ohhh?”

 

Drayden felt his ears heat up. “Shut up, Alder!”

 

“I didn’t say anything,” Alder grinned, feigning innocence.

 

***

 

“And that’s a wrap for today, thank you everyone!” Drayden called out. People started cleaning the set and getting ready to go home.

 

“Brycen, can I have a word with you?” Drayden asked and Brycen felt his insides freeze for a split second.

 

“S-sure.” Brycen walked to the director with a sinking feeling. He had heard that Drayden was a strict director and Brycen had already failed his lines countless of times. Maybe today Drayden would tell him that he’s hiring another actor for the job and that Brycen should return to Kanto.

 

“Do you have plans for tonight?” Drayden asked.

 

“Just practising my lines for tomorrow, like usual,” Brycen said carefully.

 

Drayden nodded. “That’s good… Do you… need help with that?”

 

Brycen hesitated. Usually he practised by himself or with Mikiko, but it could be beneficial to have a native English speaker to practise with. “I’d like that,” he said with a hesitant smile.

 

Drayden’s lips twitched to a smile for about a half a second, before settling back to the default semi-frown. “Good. We can practise over dinner at my place. I’ll come pick you up at seven. Is that okay?”

 

Brycen felt like he had no choice. “Yes.”

 

Drayden nodded and that was the end of that conversation.

 

***

 

“ _ Why did I agree to this? _ ” Brycen lamented later to Mikiko, “ _ He’s really scary! _ ”

 

Mikiko shrugged. “ _ You need the coaching, though. There’s only so much I can help with. _ ”

 

Brycen sighed and nodded. “ _ It could help to have a native English speaker helping... But he’s  _ so _ scary! _ ”

 

Mikiko glared at him. “ _ You’ve done stunts that are scarier. _ ”

 

“ _...Yes, but- _ ”

 

“ _ No buts! You’re going to Drayden’s place and you are going to practise and you are going to like it! _ ”

 

Brycen straightened his back. “ _ Yes ma’am! _ ” Sometimes he forgot how scary his manager could be.

 

***

 

Seven rolled around and Drayden picked Brycen up from the hotel the actor was staying at, like he had promised. The ride to Drayden’s was spent in silence, as Drayden didn’t seem to be talkative and Brycen was too terrified to speak.

 

Finally they made it to Drayden’s house. Brycen’s nerves eased a little as he took in the exterior.

 

The house was a beautiful, white brick house with pots of irises set on the window seats. It looked very homey, the opposite of what Brycen expected a man like Drayden to live in.

 

“My daughter is out tonight, so we’re alone,” Drayden said.

 

“You have a daughter?” Brycen asked.

 

Drayden smiled a little. “Yes. She’s my pride and joy. She wants to be the champion.”

 

Brycen smiled too. Then he realized something. “I haven’t seen a ring on your finger.”

 

“I’m not married,” Drayden said curtly as he opened the door.

 

Brycen faltered. “Eh?”

 

The two stepped in and a delicious smell hit his nose.

 

“Iris… I found her, one day, with a Fraxure. She told me she had no parents or guardians so I adopted her.”

 

Despite himself, Brycen smiled. That was surprisingly adorable.

 

Drayden lead them to the living room and motioned Brycen to sit down. There was a copy of the script on the coffee table, and Drayden grabbed it when they sat down.

 

“Now the line you seem to have most trouble with is this one,” Drayden said, pointing at the line in the script.

 

_ Straight into the business, then _ , Brycen thought and nodded.

 

Drayden as a strict but understanding and patient teacher. He made Brycen stop in the middle of a word if he thought that the pronunciation was off and made him repeat a word over and over until Brycen got it right.

 

“Would be easier if you were standing?” Drayden asked.

 

“Eh?”

 

“You’re fidgeting.”

 

Brycen froze. He hadn’t even noticed. “S-sorry, I will stop.”

 

“It’s fine,” Drayden said, “I’m just trying to make this easier for you. Some people are more physical than others, so it could be easier for you to be standing or pacing to learn.”

 

Brycen hesitated, but stood up anyway. “I can try.”

 

They got back into practising the lines and Brycen felt a lot more relaxed when he was able to pace a little and properly get into the character.

 

“You are doing great,” Drayden suddenly said.

 

Brycen blinked. “Th-thank you.”

 

“You know, my mother used to struggle with this too,” Drayden said, “She moved to Unova from a region far up north.”

 

“Sinnoh?”

 

“Norther,” Drayden said, “Closer to Kalos.”

 

Brycen nodded and he was about to ask more, but he heard the front door open and close. “Daaaaad! I'm home!”

 

“That’s Iris,” Drayden said, standing up too. “In the living room, pumpkin!”

 

There were footsteps and a dark-skinned, chipper girl in dirty clothes ran to the living room with a Fraxure trailing after her. “It smells so good in here! Is Alder visiting?”

 

“No, but we have another guest. This is Brycen. He’s the main protagonist in the movie.”

 

Iris paused, finally noticing Brycen. “Oh! Hello!” She smiled widely. “I’d shake your hand, but…” she motioned to her messy state.

 

Brycen smiled too and nodded. “That’s quite fine, I understand.”

 

“Go wash up, sweetie,” Drayden said, “We’ll eat when you’re ready.”

 

“Right!” Iris ran off, Fraxure close to her heels.

 

“You must be hungry too,” Drayden said to Brycen.

 

Brycen was surprised to find out that he was.

 

They moved to the kitchen and Drayden started setting the table. “I’ll take you back to the hotel when we’re done eating. It’s pretty late.”

 

“Already? I think we should continue,” Brycen protested, but Drayden lifted a hand, silencing him.

 

“We both need sleep because we have work tomorrow. But if you insist, we can continue tomorrow after the shoot.”

 

“Please,” Brycen agreed without thinking much.

 

Drayden smiled, his features softening a little. Brycen’s heart skipped a beat. For a moment, Drayden was almost…

 

“What did you make?” Iris asked, appearing to the kitchen in clean pyjamas, wet hair and a damp towel on her shoulders. Fraxure followed her, again.

 

“Fasolada. Did you wash your hands?”

 

“I did, dad.” She sat down at the table. Brycen followed her example and Drayden served the dinner, some kind of vegetable soup. Fraxure got some feed in a bowl.

 

“How was your day, sweetie?” Drayden asked as he sat down.

 

“It was great!” Iris chirped as she dug into her food with great appetite. “I beat five trainers and caught an Aron.”

 

“That’s my girl,” Drayden smiled, ruffling her hair.

 

Brycen smiled to himself. Who would have guessed that Drayden, who Brycen thought scary a few hours ago, was actually completely mushy with his daughter?

 

Iris grinned widely and turned her attention to Brycen. “Brycen, was it? Do you have any pokemon?”

 

“Only a few,” Brycen said after swallowing a spoonful of the delicious soup, “I don’t do battles, though.”

 

“It’s fine,” Iris waved a hand, “What do you have? Any rare Kanto pokemon?”

 

“Only a Bearctic, Dewgong and Weavile, I’m afraid.”

 

Iris made a face. “Yikes, ice-types. My team’s weak against it.”

 

Iris kept asking questions about pokemon in Kanto. She didn’t seem too interested about Brycen’s career or the fact that he was a famous actor. She just wanted to know about the pokemon Brycen had seen in Kanto and Johto. It was refreshing, to be quite honest.

 

Soon the dinner was eaten and Iris’ eyes started drooping.

 

“Right, off to bed with you,” Drayden said, squeezing her arm, “Remember to wash your teeth.”

  
Iris’ disgruntled look was interrupted by a yawn. “You don’t have to remind me. Geez.” She left the kitchen and Drayden collected the plates and took them to the sink.

 

“Let’s get you back to the hotel.”

 

The drive was spent in silence again, but this time Brycen was a lot more relaxed. Drayden might look like an angry Bearctic, but with his daughter he was just as docile as Brycen’s pet Bearctic.

 

Drayden pulled over in front of the hotel.

 

Brycen hesitated before speaking. “I enjoyed myself tonight,” he said.

 

Drayden’s lips quirked to a small smile. “I’m glad to hear that.”

 

“I’m looking forwards on doing this again,” Brycen smiled.

 

Something flickered in Drayden’s eyes and his face settled back into his standard frown. “That is also good to hear.”

 

Brycen suddenly felt like he had overstayed his welcome so he opened the car door. “Goodnight, Drayden-san.” The honorific slipped out on its own.

 

“Night.”

 

Brycen got out of the car and Drayden drove off. 

 

The actor wondered what had changed Drayden’s mood so quickly. Was it something he said? He just said he was excited for the next time! Was he not supposed to? He sighed and headed towards his hotel room. He was exhausted.

 

In the car, Drayden wondered why he felt like he had just dropped his date off after a slightly awkward first date.


End file.
